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The Microsoft Sam Show
The Microsoft Sam Show is a British entertainment programme that was the first to air on Toffa since 1st September 2003. The show centres around a single character ironically named Microsoft Sam, who is known for his appearance through just one image. In each episode, he would often discuss various subjects or have a go at different activities; most of them are a failure. The programme was the very first to air on Toffa when the channel launched on 1 September 2003 and following the axing of the other programme to air from day one of Toffa, Basic Tutorials in March 2019, it is the only remaining original programme from the channel's beginnings. History Development Whilst preparing for the launch of Toffa from mid-2002 and into 2003, the channel's founders Max Strapps and Eddie Lungs came up with some ideas for programming to air on the channel. The Microsoft Sam Show began as a concept of a cartoon-drawn character with a computerised voice; the other, Basic Tutorials was a fast-paced parody of DIY tutorials amongst other items. Although the show regularly aired on Saturdays, an early episode (pilot) aired during Toffa's launch day at 3pm, unrelated to much of the series itself which only consisted of Microsoft Sam introducing himself and wishing all that are involved with Toffa the very best of luck. Although a launch programme preceded it, it is technically the first programme to air on Toffa. The series eventually started the following Saturday at 5:45pm, a timeslot which remains to this day (despite a one-off weekday format in the style of a chat show in mid-2005.) Early years Although the main outline for Microsoft Sam's character was complete, there was a surprising lack of content to work with. This meant that many episodes would either see Sam discuss a random subject, provide some opinions with balanced arguments or trying out different activities as it was implyed that he wasn't human. The first proper show aired at the Saturday teatime slot of 5:45pm, a slot which has remained unchanged from then (except during mid-2005). Ratings were steady at 400,000 though many critics disliked the show for being dull and alienating. As Toffa slowly began to grow in popularity during it's first year, they wanted to give their programmes more personality. As Microsoft Sam was arguably the most popular, Toffa decided to let him introduce his show from September and would let him do it for a few weeks. This decision proved even more popular and Toffa later announced that this would be a full-time thing. Time To Talk In February 2005, Toffa revealed that Microsoft Sam would go under a different format for mid-2005. It was to be a take on the daytime talk show format which would be Toffa's first take on it in order to spice up Microsoft Sam by giving him some new techniques that couldn't be done with his usual format. The long planning and additional animations meant that the show would be off air from the new year to prepare for the new format. 40-weekday episodes were ordered, set to air from May to July and would only be a one-off thing unless it was successful. Reaction, as expected, was fairly positive from those who see talk shows as a joke and scripted and that this version was more 'natural and soft'. It also received some criticism for not being realistic enough to be considered a talk show. With it being a one-off series, Toffa quickly announced that it would go back to basics from September and returning to Saturdays at 5:45pm, instead of the show airing on weekdays at the same timeslot with the whole series considered a one-off. The format alone was partly done due to Microsoft Sam being the narrator of the sci-fi series Timebomb, which aired during that period.